Perez Cuesta will be replaced by Andy Weston-Webb, the president of Masterfoods in Australia and New Zealand. Weston-Webb will report directly to Pierre Laubies, president of Masterfoods for Western Europe.
Before moving to head the company's Antipodean operation two years ago, Weston-Webb held the post of European food product marketing director at the Mars parent company. His previous roles have included
senior marketing positions at United Biscuits and Colgate-Palmolive.
Insiders have suggested that the former Chupa Chups global chief executive Perez Cuesta is departing because he has failed to halt the slide in sales of some of Masterfoods' core confectionery brands, including Mars, Maltesers, Snickers and Twix.
Perez Cuesta was appointed as part of a restructure at Masterfoods that was intended to organise its marketing departments on a category, rather than regional basis. It is not clear how much Weston-Webb's role will differ from that of his predecessor.
Masterfoods confirmed Perez Cuesta was leaving, but refused to elucidate on the reasons for his departure.
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